The End
by Strawwolf
Summary: Things didn't go according to plan. It wasn't supposed to end like this. (Captain Swan)


Emma, filled with unbridled rage, stretched out her arms and felt a warmth build up in her hands. She aimed at the witch who was still traversing the field, directing monkeys who swarmed against the line held by Story Brooke citizens. A bright shot of light burst out of her hands and slammed into Zelena, knocking her off balance, her broom flying erratically. Forced to land, lest she fall off, Zelena descended, a sneer plastered on her face. Interfering little fool! She aimed for the blonde, determined to rid herself of the woman who seemed incapable of leaving well enough alone.

Emma watched the witch come down to earth and ran to meet her with vigor, her sword at the ready. The witch however was prepared, lashing out with a spell that nearly knocked Emma off her feet. They met sword to sorcery, the air around them crackling with magic. For every blow she tried to strike, the witch would counter it, waving her hand and manifesting a magic sword or an invisible wall. They were evenly matched, moving to and fro they way one would expect of dance partners, not enemies. But Emma could feel her arm beginning to tire, those tiny fires of pain shooting up along her shoulder for every parry, every blow. And that pain was slowing her down. The witch, broom still in hand, was gradually gaining ground with every step fought for. She stepped on the wooden handle, snapping it in half, the sharp piece in her hand coming to a deadly point. Perhaps Zelena was growing tired as well, resorting to physical weapons. Emma could only hope this meant she would now have the upper hand. She concentrated, gathering her emotions in like sucking through a straw and unleashed them on Zelena, bowling the witch over. Emma was quick to react, leaping up to bring her sword down on the witch's neck, only to hear her mother cry out in pain behind her.

"Emma help!" This was wrong. Her mother wasn't here. She was at Granny's where it was safe. They'd all agreed because of the baby that she wouldn't take part. Slowly, as if suddenly lethargic, Emma fatefully turned, desperate to save her mother from whatever had befallen her. But there was no one behind her. Her mistake only evident when she turned back around to meet Zelena, the witch driving the broom handle into her torso.

She stabbed well and true, piercing 'the Saviour' in the stomach, eliciting a groan from the blonde, her face drawn in pain. Laughing in relief Zelena ripped the broomstick out, letting Emma fall to earth. With quiet certainty she knew she was rid of the woman. She stood over her, gloating as she bled out.

"Did you really think it would end any other way?"

Emma didn't respond, her hands cupped over her stomach, blood blooming through her shirt. She felt the cold rush of adrenaline and the hardness of the ground underneath her as the sounds of battle slowly faded away. It was getting harder to breathe and that woman, that green-faced hag was saying something unintelligible before she walked away.

So this is how I go. Alone. Again. She would have laughed if it didn't hurt so much.

"Swan!"

Hook had been trying to get back to Emma's side since being separated by the chasm that had opened up in the field. Now he saw her lying on the ground with the witch looking down at her like some towering fiend. And he knew, he knew something was wrong because she wasn't moving. He pushed through a group of monkeys, slashing at any that got too close, their howls only adding to the cacophony of battle.

He reached her, skidding onto his knees as he gingerly gathered her into his arms. He saw the jagged wound and glanced over to the wooden stake coated in blood several paces away.

"Alright Swan?" He cupped her face and stroked her cheek. She looked up at him, eye glassy, face pale but nodded with that slight smile she always gave him. He pressed his hand over her wound, having seen injuries like it before after facing a broadside from another ship, knowing the outcome was never good.

"We'll just wait until the Queen gets here to patch you up." His voice shook as he tried to hold back the tears burning at the edges of his eyes. Please not again. She winced as he pressed down on her torso, trying to stem the blood. She coughed brutally, blood seeping out the side of her mouth.

"Will you promise me…" she started to cough again. He felt a cold pit of fear begin to stir in his gut. I can't lose her.

"Anything love. I'll promise you anything." Where was Regina? He scanned the field but saw no evidence of the Queen, not even her telltale fireball which usually served to denote her location. All he saw was a mass of monkeys and citizens, clashing and yelling and bleeding and dying.

"Look…after Henry." Her voice had grown soft, every juddering breath loud and wheezy.

"We'll look after him together." He brushed a strand of hair out of her face with his hook, a familiar gesture that felt so out of place in this setting.

She looked up at him, wan and pained. Yes it was a lie. But it was one she'd happily believe. Her son didn't deserve this and neither did Hook. This was no happy ending.

"Kiss me." Emma made to grab his collar but couldn't lift her hand high enough to reach him. She felt weak, pulled apart at the edges. It was like floating in water. You were never quite sure where your limbs ended and the water began.

He obeyed with reticence, not knowing if she expected anything to happen. It was soft like a whisper at first, silk trailed over skin before he deepened the kiss, urgent and pleading, his tongue diving into her mouth, as if trying to taste every last bit of her. When he pulled away his lips were smeared with her blood, mouth coated in copper.

"Don't leave me lass." He touched his forehead to hers, willing her to hold on until help arrived, until someone with more knowledge than he could come to the rescue. Where was that bloody doctor when you needed him?

"Sometimes we don't get to choose. If I could stay…"

She grabbed his hand, holding it in hers, no longer fighting to keep the blood at bay. Even now she couldn't bring herself to say the words, only hoping that he knew deep down how much he meant to her, how much she would miss him, how much she cared.

"I love you Emma." He whispered down at her, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"I know." She squeezed his hand with what little strength she had left. She was glad at least, to share this with him, to hold him and to be held. Small comfort that it was, it eased the pain and her heart to have him here with her, at the end.

"Tell me, tell me a story." He sniffed and blinked back the flood as he held her in his arms and told her about the first time he'd faced off against a mighty squid and how he'd once spent all his gold on expensive rum only for it to be stolen a band of brigands. He didn't dare stop because if he stopped he'd have to let the moment go, he'd have to let her go. So he rambled and repeated himself as her eyes closed and her breathing slowed until when he was in the middle of his desert island story, he looked down at her and saw her green eyes staring to the sky, lifeless and empty. He buried his head in her hair and sobbed, the smells of smoke and blood replaced with soap and sunlight. He cried for the time that was stolen from them, for all the possible futures that would never be, for all the days he would have to go on without her. He'd only just found her again after searching for so long, after opening up his heart again, for it to come to this. His shoulders shook as he cried into her shoulder.

"How tragic." He ignored the voice behind him. The witch seemed to thrive on the pain of others and he was loathe to give her satisfaction in this circumstance.

"I could put her under glass if you like. Or would you prefer an urn? I understand that people now have various ways of burying their dead. Perhaps you'd like to burn her body on a pyre or send her out to sea."

With one smooth movement he stood and slashed out, hoping to gut her like a codfish. She caught his blade in her hand and he blinked. By all rights that should not have happened. She smiled at him, her red mouth stark against her skin. Before having time to wrench his sword free it dissolved into so many pieces of silver sand, coating the ground between them.

"Pity. I always did like shiny things."

He snarled and lunged at her, hook first, aiming for her heart. She caught the metal with one hand and with the other, plunged her hand into his chest, ripping out his heart. He would have punched her with his free hand but he didn't appear to be in full control of his faculties, his chest aching as if his ribs had been pulled inside out. Instead he could only glower at this wench that had killed Emma.

"Oh don't look at me like that. I'm going to reunite you with your lady love. Besides, I don't get the impression that this is much use without her." She squeezed his heart to make a point, causing him to groan in pain.

He'd made a promise to look after Henry, he couldn't let her kill him. He tried to walk towards her, tried to force his legs to move, to reach out and strangle this woman that had stolen his happiness.

"You're rather desperate aren't you."

She grinned at him as she crushed his heart in her hand. He screamed out as she reduced the organ to dust, letting it fall to the ground in a pile. The light went out of his eyes with a snap, his life stretched thin before breaking on a distant shore. He collapsed next to Emma, lifeless. Zelena brushed the dust off on her dress, making certain to tread over the pile with her heel and grind it into the ground.

In the aftermath after the smoke had cleared they found them, side by side. The pirate and the princess were together, at last.


End file.
